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"Logan, this tree is on fire"

He shifted his weight to look at her, and Jenny took advantage of his split-second distraction to wriggle away She ran up the hill, as fast and ni at Maya’s duct tape with his teeth and hands

Seconds later he’d re her hand, he pulled her out from beneath the tree, just before a loud crack sounded and it split in half

"The fire will take care of her," he said, and even as the fire threatened to overtake Maya, she shivered at the picture his words painted

He pulled her down the trail; the smoke was so thick she couldn’t see farther than her elbow She tripped and fell to her knees, and the next thing she knew, Logan’s arh the so and they were separated, she’d be toast She tried to take a breath, and choked on the thick haze of set out of this," he proh all signs pointed to the opposite outco up the hill, straight toward thee from her lips as the blaze illuan, her heart racing

"Hold on tight"

He dropped down and pressed her into an indentation in the rock, pulling his fire-resistant jacket over his head and fanning it out to cover them both completely It would buy them fifteen seconds, maybe twenty, in a flame front

Her nose was jah she could hardly breathe, even though she’d nearly been ely safe

Flames rolled over the trail and he said, "Screa It was the only way to keep the fiery gases fros, but she would have screaht toward them

She braced for impact, tried to somehow prepare herself to be burned alive, when the fireball ra Logan held her as her entire body shook Of everything that had happened so far, this was by far the scariest Jenny’s bombs and house fires were crazy, but nature holly unpredictable

Logan pulled her against hi arms circle her body She scrunched his sweat-soaked shirt in her hands, burrowed her face into the hard wall of his chest

"Thank you," she finally said, the words "I love you" still stuck on the tip of her tongue

God, why couldn’t she just say it already? He was thefor all her life And yet, in the circle of his arms, she was more scared than she’d ever been

He cupped her jaw in his hand and covered her ue inside to mate with hers Without words, his kiss told her how afraid he’d been of losing her, how et out of here Do you think you can walk?" he asked gently

She nodded, her throat clogged with a full range of emotions: Fear Love Confusion

He helped her to her feet and put an ar her close as they headed downhill Five minutes later they were finally able to see the blue sky and breathe in fresh air again She sucked it into her starving lungs as they picked up their pace on the steep downhill grade Logan never let go, never let her stumble

Several minutes later when they were in a much safer spot, he carefully ran his hands over her face, her neck, her shoulders, her wrists

"Daainst her lips